Bonding
by lxckhartgardnxr
Summary: Jessica and Harvey's first year on a company trip with Louis.


**A/N: HELLO! I cannot remember the last time I posted a fic. This is partly because I'm super busy but also because all my plot lines get out of hand. Most of the the good writers that read my fics have probably noticed by now that I have a habit of making my storylines too materialistic, meaning I'll use one paragraph to describe feelings and 3 to describe an outfit. I have a problem not doing this, and while I've been getting better at it, I'm still horrible about using overused plots. That's why I've denied writing something like this for so long. We've all read the "Oh no! We have to share a hotel room!" fic and that's basically what this is, so I apologize in advance. Jessica and Harvey just happen to be the ship perfect for all of this, because while I'd like to see them as more than friends, I also love their friendship. This is probably a little to lighthearted and will be multichap but I have no clue what I can do to make it more serious. For now, I'm mainly writing to please myself and those select few that love the fluffiest fluff no matter what the writing quality. I will shut up now. Also, know that this takes place before 5x10, because obviously *spoiler* they aren't partners at the moment. Sorry for such a long explanation, you can read now.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea.**

Jessica Pearson stepped out of the elevator and into the Pearson/Specter/Litt lobby, rolling two suitcases and carrying her purse and two extra bags. Most people would expect her to be rational like she was with everything else, but the truth of the matter was that she never quite learned how to pack light. Once her parents separated, she'd spent most of the time with her mother, who practically brought the house with her every time she went on a trip, and though Jessica wasn't quite that bad, she drew so much attention that she received 5 offers of assistance on the way to her office, all of which she refused.

She really just wanted to make it to her office, where she could grab the last of her things before meeting Harvey and Louis back at the elevator to carpool to the airport. Today was the day of their trip to D.C. to attend the annual meeting of the country's top 100 law firms, an achievement Jessica often liked to brag about. When she walked into her office, though, her partner was already waiting. "I never thought I'd see Jessica Pearson walk in at 9 a.m."

"I never thought I'd see Harvey Specter here before 9 a.m.", she shot back. "But there's a first time for everything." She grabbed her files and her coat. "Let's get going."

"Think you brought enough stuff?" He asked, grabbing a suitcase and the two bags she carried. He'd been on plenty of company trips with her before, but he still found it amusing that she felt the need to bring this much for a three day trip.

"Trust me, I already reduced enough. Where's your stuff, anyway?"

"Already in the car. It's my car."

She rolled her eyes. "Let's go." Harvey signaled to Louis on the way out, who came running with his suitcase behind them. If it were up to Harvey, Louis wouldn't be coming, but he didn't really have a choice. All the name partners were suppose to come, even if Louis hadn't earned it. He chose to keep his mouth shut if for no other reason than he would have to sit with him on a plane for 2 hours. They piled in the backseat, Harvey in the middle, none of them saying a word, and he told Ray where they'd be going.

Louis talked through the whole ride. About his new cat, his mom, or something else neither of them cared about. Jessica spent most of her time looking out the window, quietly sipping her coffee. Normally she'd be rattling off plans, but in her defense, she couldn't get a word in edgewise. She finally did when they were sitting on a bench in the airport lobby. "So this is my first time going with you guys to D.C.", Louis looked at the two of them.

Jessica straightened up. "It is, Louis, so here's how it'll go. When we get there, we'll check in, I have us staying at the Ritz, and we're in two adjoining rooms, you guys will share one and I'll stay in my own."

"Wait..." Harvey tried not to show anger. He hoped she was joking. "What?"

Jessica smiled through gritted teeth. "Yes, Harvey, is there a problem?"

"No, I just... I guess I assumed we'd share a room if anything." Harvey hadn't really assumed this, but then again, he didn't know what he'd assumed, so he kept quiet.

"Well, that'd be a little awkward", Louis laughed nervously. "I don't think Jessica would be comfortable with that. We'll be fine, right Harvey? We're pretty good friends."

Harvey looked at Jessica and she could feel his disgust. She was sympathetic, although she'd never tell Louis that. She was looking forward to having her own room, but she didn't want to put Harvey through the drudgery of arguing with Louis for three days.. "On second thought," she said to Louis, "Harvey and I will share a room. We've... done that every other year." Of course this wasn't the truth, they'd just each had their own, but when she'd booked this, Louis hadn't been made partner.

"Oh, it's no trouble Jessica, we'll have fun. Besides, you two wouldn't want to share, I mean, you... Don't know each other that well..." Both Harvey and Jessica glared at him. "Nevermind." He got up and quietly, shamefully walked away.

"Just like Louis to overstep his boundaries", Harvey sighed.

"He didn't know what he was getting himself into."

"All I'm saying is if he's gonna be like this the rest of the trip, I'll just let you two go alone."

"Well I guess you won't have to find out." She smirked. "Since you don't have to have a three day sleepover with him now."

"Yeah, thanks for that, by the way."

She glanced at him. "Don't mention it. Sit beside me on the plane too, will you? If I have to play mad libs with Louis the whole way there, I might just kill myself."

He chuckled. "Okay."

When they finally arrived at Ronald Reagan International Airport, they were ready for some time to themselves. Jessica was slightly disheveled, her heels had been traded for flip flops and her hair was up in a messy bun. Harvey had removed his jacket but Louis's remained buttoned. He had talked the whole ride. They exited the airport and got in the car Jessica had called. It was a short ride, luckily, to the hotel. Jessica explained to them on the way how the trip would go, though Harvey pretty much knew. "So tonight we'll have time off, there's no meetings until tomorrow. We can go to dinner or something. We get up and meet at about 7 tomorrow, and we'll go to the convention center where we sign in, then there's a seminar in the morning, lunch, and a meeting between managing partners in the afternoon, so you guys can do whatever you want." Harvey rolled his eyes at that, knowing Louis would probably want to spend the afternoon with him exploring some museum or something. "Wednesday," Jessica explained, "we have a big meeting and a dinner party, and Thursday, a tour of the city and a couple guest speakers. We'll leave Friday morning."

"Excuse me", Louis piped up, "I packed for a three day trip, not a five day trip."

"Don't worry, you can borrow some of Jessica's clothes. She packed for a three month trip." Harvey laughed, earning a glare from Jessica.

"I figured the two days of travel didn't count." She sighed as the car stopped and the driver opened the door. After a silent thank you, she grabbed her bags and headed to check in, not waiting for the two men to follow her. They caught up to her as she was waiting at the front desk. Harvey eyed the clerk, silently judging her obvious distaste for her job, even though he knew he sometimes came off that way, and he wasn't working at one of the best hotels in D.C., watching obviously successful people walk by day after day. She finished checking them in, though, without too much complaining, and they were off to their rooms, Harvey and Jessica finally separated from the cause of their headache, at least for a little while.

While she began to unpack her first bag and put her clothes in the closet, he flopped down on the bed and slipped off his dress shoes. "So, it sounds like we have a busy schedule."

"We do", Jessica sighed. she dropped her empty bag to the floor and picked up the next one.

"Do we really have to go to dinner with Louis tonight?" Harvey asked. He always enjoyed coming on this trip but he wouldn't enjoy spending even more time with Louis than usual.

"Yes, Harvey." It was only 3 so they had time to relax, but Jessica continued to unpack as he flipped through the channels on the TV. They were usually like this, he was relaxed and she was always busy, which was part of what made them such a good team. He was glad they could do things like this as a team now, because before Hardman had disappeared, he'd been the one accompanying Jessica to things like this. Harvey often wondered what kind of relationship they'd had. Sure, he'd seen it when he worked in the mailroom and when he'd joined the firm after they'd taken it from Gordon/Schmidt/Van Dyke but he'd never really been around them. He knew how she felt about Hardman now, but he wondered if they were ever as close as he and Jessica were.

"We could just order room service", he suggested.

"Honestly, that sounds great." Jessica couldn't think of the last time she'd been able to relax. It seemed that she was constantly working these days. She finished unpacking and laid down on her bed.

"Thanks again for letting me be your roommate."

"You're welcome. I'm not sure why we didn't do it before. I like spending time with you." She looked over at him and she wasn't saying that sarcastically, she seriously meant it. It was unusual for Jessica to express any sort of emotion, but she'd decided it couldn't hurt to talk to Harvey like a friend instead of a colleague for once.

"I like spending time with you too", he said, "but you know why we never did it before. You didn't think it was professional."

That much was true. She thought of Harvey as family, of course, but finding out that the name partners were sharing a room might make some people suspicious. She didn't always care what other people thought but she didn't like to hurt her image either. She always kept her personal life separate. This year, though, somewhat on impulse, she'd decided that spending a little more time with her arrogant sidekick wouldn't hurt so much. He was a little less refined outside of work too. "You're right", she said. "I didn't."

"Anything in particular change your mind?"

"I guess we just... know each other better. Not to mention I was saving your ass this time."

He laughed, turning to face her. "Well, I appreciate it."

Jessica sat up, deciding to catch up on some work. Harvey watched her grab a couple files. "What are you working on?"

"Reading over the Anderson deposition", she replied. "Mike did a good job."

"Did you expect him not to?"

"No, just saying you made the right choice."

"Thanks." They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Harvey decided he couldn't bear to watch her sit there and work when they were basically on vacation. He got up and handed her her coat. "Come on", he said, "Let's go for a walk."


End file.
